Order is reduced in ex-officer's case

Man accused of stalking former girlfriend fails to get decision fully vacated

By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer

Published 10:36 pm, Friday, December 9, 2011

BALLSTON SPA — A judge on Friday shortened a court order that protects a 25-year-old woman from a former police officer accused of stalking her, but the judge refused to immediately vacate it as the ex-cop had sought.

Saratoga County Family Court Judge Jennifer Jensen-Bergan reduced to two years an order of protection placed against former Saratoga Springs patrolman Patrick Arpei, saying prior county Family Court Judge Gilbert Abramson had erred when he imposed a five-year order on Sept. 21, 2010.

But Jensen-Bergan, the first woman elected to the bench in the county, rejected Arpei's petition for immediate relief from the order, which prevents Arpei from contacting his ex-girlfriend, Kaela Priester of Wilton. The judge instead gave Arpei's attorney, recently retired state Supreme Court Judge Frank Williams, a choice between a two-year order of protection or having the entire case re-tried.

More Information

"I feel like I got the most that I could," Priester said after the proceeding. She represented herself. She said she'll feel safe for only as long as the order remains in effect.

Priester had accused Arpei, 30, of bombarding her with thousands of text and phone messages and threatening to use his police powers against her after she broke up with him. State Police charged Arpei with fourth-degree stalking, a misdemeanor. The criminal charges were adjourned pending Arpei's compliance with the order. But Arpei resigned from the Saratoga Springs Police Department in February after he new allegations surfaced that he used police data to pull over several of Priester's friends and relatives in the city and ticketed them for non-existent traffic infractions. No criminal charges were brought, but Abramson granted — and Arpei agreed to — a five-year order that prohibited him from being within 250 feet of Priester.

But after a year, Arpei petitioned to have the order discontinued, saying it prevented him from getting a job as a police officer. Arpei's parents worked on the Saratoga Springs police force, and his two brothers presently do. During a court break Friday, Williams lobbied Priester and her father to agree to ending the order if Arpei pledged to not try to get a job with Saratoga Springs police or the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office. She declined.

"She likes the press," Williams said after the decision. "We're very happy."